Spanish Historical Movies

Spanishhistorical movies have been numerous throughout the history of cinema, as Spain is a country that has a very dramatic history that has yielded a number of very entertaining stories. These Spanish historical movies address all parts of Spanish history, from when the country was one of the most powerful kingdoms in the world to when they were ruled by the dictator Franco before World War II. To get the full feeling of the history of Spain through the historical movies that have been made about it, watch the movies on this list.

"El Cid." A Spanish historical movie that charts the Spanish locals trying to drive the Moors from their homeland is "El Cid," which was made in 1961 and starred Charlton Heston. This Spanish historical movie is a huge costume epic and charts the Spanish locals driving the Moors from Valencia in the years 1080, but not Spain as a whole.

"Elizabeth." One of the best films of the year in 1998 told of the role of Queen Elizabeth when the British were at war with Spain. It starred the (relativel unknown at the time) actress Cate Blanchett and actor Geoffrey Rush and while the film focuses more on the British perspective of events in the Imperial Wars between the British and Spain, it still qualifies as a Spanish historical movie.

"Citizen Kane." Widely considered one of the greatest movies ever made, Orson Welles's "Citiizen Kane" is about yellow journalist William Randolph Hearts's victory over Spain in the Spanish-American war by drumming up support through his newspapers. While this Spanish historical movie hardly covers Spanish characters, it says a lot about Spain's history, namely about how they lost their presence in the continent of North America at the end of the 19th century.

"For Whom The Bell Tolls." Based on the famous novel by Ernest Hemmingway, "For Whom the Bell Tolls" tells a story of the Spanish Civil War, where an American schoolteacher goes to Spain to fight Franco, who is trying to take over the country. The 1943 Spanish historical movie starred Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman.

"Disappearance of Garcia Lorca." Another Spanish historical movie about the Spanish Civil War tells the story of Garcia Lorca, who was a painter, musician and poet living in Spain and was one of the first people killed before the start of the Spanish Civil War. The 1997 movie stars Andy Garcia and Edward James Olmos.